


It Was Back During the War

by Arcanaacid



Series: Rexsoka Week 2018 [1]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Back During the War, F/M, Friendship, Go Back!verse adjacent, Rexsoka 2018, Rexsoka Week, Torrent Company, story time!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-08
Updated: 2018-10-08
Packaged: 2019-07-28 04:34:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16234304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arcanaacid/pseuds/Arcanaacid
Summary: Rexsoka Week Day 1 Prompt: It was back during the war. Ezra begs Rex for stories of the days during the Clone Wars. Rex finally gives in and tells him how Ahsoka and he bonded over pranking the 212th.





	It Was Back During the War

**Author's Note:**

> Day 1 - It was Back During the War… (Oct. 8)  
>  How did it all begin? Padawan Ahsoka Tano is a spunky teenager who befriends  
> Clone Captain 7567 - Rex. How does their friendship grow? Does Ahsoka drag Rex into any shenanigans? How does the Captain teach his new Commander to be a soldier?

Soft winds blew over the lake as Ezra kicked his feet against the pier he was sitting on, shifting the waters as the sun made its way down. Rex sat next to him and watched the young man sigh loudly,  _ again _ , as he leaned back on one arm. 

“Come on, Rex! Just one?” Rex rolled his eyes. Ezra had been badgering all of them for a week about stories from their younger years,  _ although does it count if you get to relive it? _ He shook his head, chuckling slightly. 

“Alright, one. What do you want to hear about?” Ezra’s face lit up as he sat straighter. 

“Really? Okay. Uh, what about...You and Ahsoka? How did you two end up together?” Rex snorted, of course that’s what he’d want to hear about. 

“It depends...I guess it really all started when she was a little padawan and I was at Anakin’s side during the Battle of Christophsis.” He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, trying to remember what two lifetimes ago felt like. 

“She was this little thing, montrals barely up to my shoulder, and came tumbling out of a transport declaring she was Skywalker’s padawan. He was pretty disgruntled to be honest, never wanted to ‘look after some kid’ I believe is what he told me. Anyway, it took some time but we bonded--I taught her how to be a soldier and she taught me a new way to view the world.”

* * *

 

Ahsoka bounced through the halls with a bundle of cloth in her arms, the  _ vod _ who saw her decidedly ignored her for their own deniability. She had gotten most of the way to the main conference room near the bridge before she was stopped by a certain grumpy Captain. 

“What are you doing with that, kid?” Rex’s voice came through slightly garbled. Ahsoka tilted her head and tapped her montral, miming “I can’t understand you.” Rex took off his bucket and arched an eyebrow at her.

“Thing’s been having issues. So, what’s in the bundle?” Ahsoka shifted the bundle to the side, as if that would hide it, and looked up at him with innocent blue eyes. 

“What bundle? I dunno Rexster, you might need to get your eyes checked…” She shifted slowly to aim at the door but was stopped by a firm hand. 

“Kid, stop. What are you planning, Ahsoka?” Rex kept her in place with one hand and leaned forward, gently unwrapping the cloth to see what she had. In her arms were several cans of spray paint. Rex pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing. 

“No, wait, it’s not what you think! I want to make a banner!” Ahsoka beamed up at him and he could feel his lips twitch into a small smile.

“It wouldn’t be due to our joint mission with the 212th, would it?” He released her grip and she continued her trek to the conference room with Rex close behind. The room was, as expected, empty so she got to work quickly laying out the large canvas cloth and handed Rex a spray paint can. 

“Nope, no. I am not doing this.” He shook his head.

“But  _ Rex!  _ It’s a Torrent Company banner, you  _ have to help! _ ” She pouted and, not for the first time, Rex wondered if she learned to cry on command. He held steadfast for another minute of whining before giving in and agreeing to help her. He lined out the letters for “Torrent Company Rules!” as Ahsoka painted small designs that he assumed were clone helmets with various expressions, including Commander Cody with angry eyebrows. 

“Is that really necessary?” He asked dryly, getting a gasp in return as Ahsoka’s now blue-splattered hand went to her chest.

“Of course! We have to build morale, Rex!” He rolled his eyes and stood back to look at their creation. It wasn’t nearly as bad as he had thought, his lettering was clear and Ahsoka’s art was...well, you could tell what it was supposed to be so he considered that a plus. 

“Now what, Commander?” He smirked as she glared at him, his use of her title always rubbed her the wrong way. 

“Now we wait, Rexster.” 

Unfortunately for them, however, they did not anticipate any retaliation from the 212th. The next day came and went, Anakin had laughed--as had most of Torrent Company--and Obi-Wan scolded Ahsoka for it, and before they knew it it was time to retire to the barracks. 

“So, Sir, did you know what Commander Tano was up to?” Jesse teased Rex as they made their way back. 

“Of course not, it was a terrible way to antagonize the troopers we will be going on mission with.” Rex’s small smile said volumes, however, and the stoic captain ignored the ribbing his company continued to give. Ahsoka did have a point, it was good for morale.

The barrack doors opened to an utter disaster. Orange paint littered every piece of gear that had been left there, all of the standard issue pillows and sheets had been dyed, and a banner hung on the top bunk that read “I think you mean DROOLS!” Rex groaned and turned around on the spot to go find Cody. 

Ten minutes later Commander Cody came in to see what had made his  _ ori’vod _ come off the handle and froze, taking in the scene. Jesse had flopped on a pile of bright orange pillow on the ground, Coric attempted to scrub orange paint off of his backup medkit, and Rex’s back up blasters had carefully painted tiny Cody helmets on the butt of each blaster. 

“I...I had no,  _ no _ idea, Rex.” Cody groaned. This was  _ not _ the way to get back at the 501st, although… “I’ll go...talk to the men.” He cringed inwardly and stalked out to leave Torrent Company to clean up. 

Some time later, after Ahsoka found her own room covered in orange paint as well, both battalions found themselves sitting in the mess to be chastised by both General Skywalker and General Kenobi. 

“What were you all thinking?” Anakin lamented,  _ again _ , and threw his hands in the air. Ezra would later remind Rex much of the young General, but back then he was just happy to sit with his men and hide his smile. General Kenobi still hadn’t noticed that the back of his usual uniform had the words “Skyguy and Snips” neatly stitched into the hem. 

Years later, this moment would be so fondly remembered by so many and the moment Ahsoka and Rex began their close friendship. From here, he taught her how to use a blaster and how to use Mandalorian hand-to-hand combat. She taught him, as always, how to have fun and look at the world in a new light. 

* * *

 

Ezra grinned as Rex finished his story, “But what about the second time? You know, when we went back and all that.” He waved a hand in Rex’s general direction. 

“I told you earlier, you got one. This time...Well, we both have overlapping memories, so it’s a little weird.” Rex shrugged and got up to dust himself off. 

“Come on, Hera will kill me if we don’t make it back in time for dinner.” The sun had fallen low, disappearing behind the water in the distance.

 


End file.
